Chinese censors have cut out pop star Lady Gag, singer Justin Bieber and Korean boys’ pop group BTS from the reunion series of the popular US series Friends last week.
On Thursday, a special “Friends” series was shown at the streaming service “HBO Max”, marking the 15th anniversary of the end of filming of the series.
In anticipation of the special reunion episode: 15 facts to know about the cult series “Friends”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRXVQ77ehRQ
The series featured all of the series’ main characters – Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Coke, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Leblan, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer. Other actors and music stars also appeared episodically.
In China, the series was broadcast on three video platforms, but censors had cut out all the stars that had once caused the anger of the ruling Communist Party.
In 2016, Lady Gaga’s tour of China was banned after her meeting with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, who Beijing calls a separatist.
Canadian singer Justin Bieber has been banned from touring China since 2014 after his visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Japan. The Shinto shrine honors 2.5 million people killed in the war, including 14 convicted war criminals. China and South Korea see Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan’s former militaryism, but visiting the shrine is interpreted as a misunderstanding or lack of regret about wartime history.
The BTS angered Beijing last year when they did not mention Chinese soldiers who had fallen in the Korean War when it came to the “history of pain” in the region.
The series about six New Yorkers is extremely popular in China and is even recommended in schools as a means of learning English.-
The censorship of the reunion series has sparked profound Chinese anger, with fans of the series expressing outrage at social networks.
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